Tag Archives: animation

Nicolas Fong creates GIFS and short animated films filled with peculiar characters and imaginative scenarios. In his work, psychedelic shapes morph into one another as dreamlike narratives unravel. In a recent video Fong created for the band BRNS’ song “Many Changes,” an abstract, underwater creature evolves into many different lifeforms. The video highlights the cyclical nature of life and the beauty of the natural world. In another video for Forever Pavot’s song “Green Nap,” smoke filling an 1800s-style opium den floats to the ceiling, revealing kaleidoscopic visuals and trippy patterns. Take a look at some of Fong’s work below and follow his Vimeo channel to see more of his films.

While GIFs have yet to find an established place in the art world, they’re fascinating because they have the potential to go beyond the frozen image in two dimensions. Texas artist Hayden Zezula, aka Zolloc, works as a designer and animator by day, but has an expansive portfolio of animated GIFs that will cause chills to creep down your spine. His latest series, titled “Oswra,” features a cast of mutated babies with pale gray skin. Their multiplying limbs move in geometric arrangements that are both hypnotizing and frightening. Take a look below.

Somewhere on the scale of lovable to repulsive lie Sam Lyon’s “Jelly Gummies,” a series of experimental digital illustrations and GIFs the tickle the senses. These 3D-looking creatures make you want to reach out and poke your computer screen to feel their squishy texture, only to quickly recoil at their intestine-like sliminess. The jolly blobs flop and wiggle in Lyon’s repetitive, animated GIFs. But the illustrator and designer puts them to another surprising use: clothing and textile designs. Many of the Jelly Gummies are featured in repeating patterns that he plans to make into fabrics, adding another dimension to his otherwise multi-sensory work.

The last time we featured sculptor Jessica Laurel Louise, aka Jessica Dalva, she was exploring a ritualistic narrative with her feminine works. In the two years since, her art has developed to reflect a multitude of personal interests and skills; her hand-painted sculptures, shadow boxes, drawings, and recently, clay animation, collectively exhibit a cinematic taste. Communicating movement has become an important focus for Dalva. She keeps a diary of her excursions at her blog, from her travels to studying animal anatomy at Natural History Museum, and drying scarves in the wind. These have had a noticeable effect on her artwork. Read more after the jump.

About 30 seconds into one of Jake Fried’s hand-drawn animations, you’re hit with the sense of how much time it took the artist to draw each frame of these intricate, multi-layered works. Fried works with a combination of art supplies and household materials: ink and gouache are paired with coffee and white out. Try doing such minuscule, detailed line work with the tip of a white out pen. Those things were not designed for the type of precision Fried somehow manages to elicit from them. View the animations after the jump.